23 Jun RIGHTSIZING YOUR NORTHERN BEACHES HOME

Forget the ‘Upsize;’ it may be that time in your life when you want to ‘Downsize’, or more appropriately, ‘Rightsize’!

Recently, I caught up with Belinda Woolrych, who is probably Australia’s queen of rightsizing homes. Belinda explained that there is a growing movement of people downsizing their personal housing footprint on the northern beaches, in fact, across Sydney and Australia.

Most people just think of the option and term of ‘Downsizing’, but Belinda prefers the more beneficial result of ‘Rightsizing.’ “The key is to make the solution ‘optimal.’ To ‘downsize’ implies simply moving to a smaller place while to ‘Rightsize’ is to convert to a more optimal space,” she explains.

I learnt that this might be converting your existing home, adding a granny flat, or extracting hidden value from your current property to maximise your options, before scaling down into a smaller property.

The Rightsizing trend now is commonly tied to lifestyle-improvement goals. Often, a homeowner is motivated to Rightsize post the family growing up; post the realization of spending too much time maintaining a big house and yard; or post paying off a home loan.

Higher motivators also involve the desire to retire and to live closer to the beach, on the mountains, or just about anywhere that offers cosiness with the amenities of life. Rightsizing is all around us.

Through the duration of my conversation with Belinda, I learnt that the most important step to Rightsizing is maximizing the sale value of what you have. This is where Belinda and her crew come in to do any or all of the following:

Talk through your needs, desires, and budget to help you decide whether you should stay on the same property, sell your property, or Rightsize your home.

Get to work deciding on a strategy from de-cluttering the home, implementing small renovations, or totally maximizing the development potential of your home before selling

Perhaps convert that little office into a bedroom for added value, declutter and restyle, if needed, to attract a more affluent market, or totally update the landscaping and paint colours to attract a younger more affluent client.

It seems that there are no ends to how smart you can be about leveraging the home you have to maximize the sale price and therefore, have extra funds to purchase an even better Rightsized home or have more cash in the bank.

At Property Finance Professionals, we have spoken to many people about how to access renovation funds, construction loans for granny flats, how to pay off their mortgage after selling and how to structure their new home (usually debt-free) if they want to then part borrow to buy investment properties after the final settlement.

If you’re looking for more reasons to consider Rightsizing, Belinda’s book is your wake up call. You can start uncovering what gifts you can open when you Rightsize, right here.

To contact Belinda directly, you can email her at belinda@papillonstyling.com.au.

Editor’s Note: This article is written by Bradley Field, owner and Senior Broker for Property Finance Professionals – a mortgage brokerage company based in Collaroy Beach, NSW and with clients all over Australia. Through their financial services and lender relationships, Property Finance Professionals empower their clients to make financial decisions that result to positive outcomes. Visit their website and follow them on social media today. You can also call them at 02 9972 4452 or drop them a line here.